DETOURS AND SIDE ROADS

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour!" This quote was one that I had to re-read several times to really "get" it. I don't know how you feel about detours and side roads but I am one of those people who likes to have my whole trip mapped out in advance. I make lists of all the things that I need to take with me, tick them off before leaving and like to know exactly how long the journey will take and try to plan ahead for all eventualities! Stop laughing!! Yes, I am a bit of a "control freak" in that way. In fact, a joke amongst my friends and family is a small cosmetic bag that I have packed and keep in my car – it contains (amongst other things) pain killers, nail clippers, scissors, band aids, an emergency blanket, tape measure, calculator, note pad, energy bars, energy tablets, guitar strings, pen-knife, etc., etc. I would just like to point out that I am not the one who has had a need for anything from my bag, but several of my friends have!!

Anyway, my point is that no matter what precautions we take we can never know just what life is going to throw at us. No matter how much planning we do for a trip we cannot control the weather conditions, the potholes, road-works, accidents and other things that take place that may cause us to have to select an alternative route to our intended destination.

That is why I am so glad to have the Creator of the Universe in my corner and in control. No matter what plans we may have for our lives, if we surrender everything to God and let him be the driving force in our daily living, He will always get us to the best place we can be! God only wants us to live for Him, to live our lives doing His will and if we do that, we can be sure of an interesting time and that the journey He takes us on will be for more rewarding than anything we can plan for ourselves.

So if your best laid plans don't seem to be going the way you want them to, no matter how much prayer you have dedicated to them, then just enjoy the detour God is taking you on and trust Him to get you to your destination. He always has your best interests at heart because he totally adores you!

WHERE IS GOD?

I am currently feeling as though God has left the building! That I am standing on a crumbling ledge with no where to go but down. Intellectually I know that this is not true. But knowing something in my head doesn't always connect with what is in my heart!

I know that most times when someone feels like this it is because they have experienced some tragedy or crisis. Alternatively the day to day problems just seem to get to a point where they are too heavy to carry any longer and you just want to turn your back on everything, walk out the door and keep on walking! In my case my depression has been rearing its ugly head telling me that I am a waste of a human skin, worthless, useless and my life always has been and always will be meaningless! Not a very pleasant place to be let me assure you.

So what do we do when these feelings take a grip on our hearts and minds? Do we give ourselves a pep talk and say "buck up, you are just being silly", do we ignore how we are feeling and try to pretend that all is well and simply keep ourselves so busy that we do not have time to think about how we are feeling. Or do we allow the strong pull of depression to suck us down to the very bottom of its miserable black hole and wallow in our pain and misery? Well I tried the pep talk, it didn't work! I am too tired to pretend but have decided that I have had enough time in that black hole to never want to go back down there again. But believe me, the mouth of that hole is treacherously slippery and it is an uphill battle to pull out of it.

The only thing that we can do is call out to God and know that He hears our cries! He has promised to never leave us and because He is Truth, He cannot lie! There are times though when He is silent, as we may have a lesson to learn from the situation that we are going through. That does not mean that He is not still with us and ultimately still loving us completely!

We have to remember that God pursues us with His love. He wants all of us to come to Him but will never force us. He gives us the choice of following Him or not! So if He is going to devote so much time and thought and love on US then He will not leave our side or let us down, no matter how bleak our situation may be.

So that is where God is, even in our darkest times – He is right beside us, waiting lovingly and patiently for us to acknowledge Him and understand that when we feel worthless, we are not because He loves us, created us and has a purpose for our lives. When we wonder why we are still alive and other, more deserving people are not, it's because He hasn't finished with us yet! When we feel as though we are standing alone on a crumbling ledge, He is wanting us to trust Him and take a step of faith out in to what seems like a vast nothingness but is actually the start of another part of His wonderful plan for our lives!

ARE YOU LIVING YOUR DREAM – OR SOMEONE ELSE’S?

If faced with the question "what is your dream for your life" how would you answer? About a year ago this question was asked during a leadership programme that I was on. It sent me into a complete tailspin and was the catalyst for my depression to sink to an all time low! I realised that, in my late forties, not only did I not have any dreams for my life but that the few that I had in my youth had withered and died. After almost a year of soul-searching, fighting depression and clawing my way through each day, I have finally found the courage to tentatively start dreaming again.

As this subject is so close to my heart, I was thrilled when our pastor began a series of sermons on living God's dream for our lives. His one question raised an alarm bell and that is why I am using it as the title for this message.

Many people, women in particular, find their dreams being shelved or chucked out completely when they get married. I don't think that this is always a deliberate decision, rather it is a case of putting the needs of their spouse and children first.

Another similar situation is when a parent imposes their dreams on to their children. Pressure is put on little 'Johnny/Mary' to become an engineer or doctor, when all he/she wants to do is ……. (fill in the blanks if this applies to you.) In so many cases the parent who does this is someone who was unable to live out their own dreams and so tries to do so through their child.

To all those people out there who find themselves in this situation, I beg you to do something about it! God has put a dream into each of our hearts that He will use to fulfil His purposes. The dream that He has given us will be the one thing that will make our lives purposeful. Living out someone else's dream instead of your own is not a sacrifice that God wants us to make and is unhealthy in the long run as a time will come when bitterness and resentment will take up residence in our hearts.